Fed and happier now

Wow, I sure get cranky when I am hungry :). Thai 101 came through for us with yummy food late at night. Our usual favorites are the Pad Ke Mow and Cashew Nut n I, but we have been eating a lot of Thai lately and decided to try something new. We had a huge (I mean huge) Thai salad, which is the usual lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and peanut dressing. This dressing was a little lacking, I like it a little more peanutty and with a bit of a kick. We also tried the Rama (a peanut sauce) and the Jungle Curry. The two on their own were a bit lacking, the rama was a little peanutty, but not much else, and the curry was spicy, but not much else. So together they made for a spicy peanutty dish which was pretty good.

As for the other night's meal from Mojito's... Our downstairs neighbors had ordered it one night when they were locked out of their apartment. They looked like they were having such a great time eating the Cuban-influenced food out on the steps. They gave us the menu and we eagerly took it upstairs, but then waited a week before we ordered from them. When we did it was a late Friday, we were hungry and looking for a meal of munchies. When I called Mojito's they were clearly very busy, (the hostess kept putting me on hold, and I heard her repeatedly telling people that she was sorry about the wait), and yet they happily took my order - asking me to repeat things over their background din. We got quite a lot of food, the Veggie Cuban Quesadilla meal (white cheese and sweet plantain quesadilla with yellow rice and black beans), Yuca Frita, the Mazorca Asada (grilled corn on the cob with mayo, cotija cheese & chili powder), Moros & Cristianos (white rice & black beans mixed, with sweet plaintains and avocado), and Guava and Cheese Empanadas. The little tubs of refreshing and spicy green sauce was yummy on lots of things, and the combinations of flavors were really yummy. I am sure they would hold up even better if eaten in the restaurant - and it sounded like everyone in the background was having a great time. There was some flavor that seemed to permeate every dish that did get a little tiresome after a while, but the quesadilla and empanadas were a big hit. I also really liked the yellow rice, which was a creamy offset to the heartiness of the black beans. Definitely worth a visit so that we can try some of the great drinks too!

CSA this week saw some repeats from the previous week - the bok choy (this time smaller) and those delish french radishes (which I love on whole wheat bread with butter and salt - very decadent tasting). I have a great recipe for an almond, Asian chili, coconut sauce that we are going to try with the bok choy and some homemade seitan. After that, I may be done with bok choy for a while though. Also picked up some beautiful looking turnips, that will go nicely with a coriander, horseradish crusted tofu - I will carmelize the turnips which makes them savory, soft and sweet. The veg have all been wonderfully fresh tasting - better than anything you can get at the store that's been trucked and refrigerated and picked to early, etc. I am rapidly running out of room in my herb window boxes though! I also enjoy the updates from Farmer Ted. This week I will be volunteering at the CSA, so I will get a look at a little bit of the 'inner workings.'

I have gotten a couple more good recommendations on where to eat outside with your (well-behaved) pooch. I will try to figure out how to mark those places as special on the map...
Thanks to 'lesterhead' and "The Dog Lover's Companion to New York City" the list now includes, Madiba, Luz, Sushi D, Chez Oskar, and Loulou. (Does anyone know if Red Bamboo will let dogs into their enclosed patio?)

Don't forget to go play in the puddles... If the street water is too gross for you, there's big adult sized puddles out at PS 1 right now, part of their "Warm Up."

edited 7/2: Sorry I originally had "A Table" in the list of dog friendly places - had gotten it out of the guidebook (print material is so dated!) A commenter pointed out that what was A Table, is now Olea. Dog friendly?